A recursive calculation of the Arf invariant of a link (Q1083718)

The Arf invariant Arf(L) of a knot or link L was defined by R. A. Robertello in 1965. He also found a simple formula between Arf(K) and the Alexander polynomial \(\Delta_ K(t)\) for a knot K. However, it was 1984 when the reviewer proved a relationship between Arf(L) and the Alexander polynomial \(\Delta_ L(x,y)\) for a 2-component link L. Now Arf(L) is completely determined by simply evaluating the Jones polynomial \(V_ L(t)\) at \(t=\sqrt{-1}\), thanks to V. F. R. Jones' recent breakthrough in knot theory. The main theorem of this paper is: If Arf(L) is defined, \(V_ L(\sqrt{-1})=\sqrt{2}^{n-1}(-1)^{Arf(L)}\) and \(V_ L(\sqrt{- 1})=0\) otherwise, where n is the number of components of L. A proof is done by induction on the number of crossings in a projection of L.